Gerik History
About a hundred years ago, the area now known as Gerik was still covered by thick forest and was under the rule of King Reman. In 1870, a few people arrived from Patani by the Hangai River, and cleared the land at the river’s estuary. This group was headed by a man called Tok Ad (Tok Sa ad).
Not long after that, King Reman, called Tuan Jagong, came elephant hunting at Gunung Tujuh, near Kuala Kenderong. They heard about the village in the middle of the jungle nearby.
When King Reman came near to the village, he heard a strange noise from the base of a cluster of elephant bamboos. He then ordered his men to dig it up to find out what made the strange noises.
Once it was dug up, they discovered a large number of animals that looked like rats eating the bamboo root. As the root was very hard, the rats made screeching noises when bitten (gerit) by these animals.
King Reman thus named the place Gerit Village. Gerit was used for a long time but the pronunciation and spelling was later changed from Gerit to Grik, and now to Gerik.
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In the early 1901, Hulu Perak District Head Office was moved from Teluk Janing to Gerik. Gerik was originally a small town, with wooden shop houses located at Jalan Wan Mat Salleh. When the tin mining activities began in Temenggor, Gerik Town became bigger and developed. Since 1903, the District Officers were as follows:
1903 - C.F. Bozzolo
1907 - Burgess
1907 - H.Berkely
1910 - C.M. Lailaw
1912 - H.Berkely
1917 - V.Hill
1918 - H.Berkley, E.A.Dikson, A.S.Jervois, H.Berkley
1926 - J.E.Kenyse
1926 - A.G.Markicc
1927 - H.F.Honks
1929 - O.E.Venable
1931 - W.F.N.Chuchill
1932 - W.S.Evdens
1933 - Dato' Mahmud b. Mat
1934 - Dato' Abdul Malik b. Hj Yusof
1936 - Raja Haji Ahmad b. Raja Endut
1939 - Dato' Ahmad b. Mat
1940 - Syed Nordin b. Syed Husein
1941 - A.N. Ross
1942 - Hj. Meor Yahya b. Meor Alwi
1942 - Wan Mohd Ali b. Wan Omar
1943 - Raja Hj. Shahar Shah b. Raja Harun
1945 - Syed Nordin b. Syed Husein
1945 - CPT. Mohamed Salleh b. Hj Sulaiman
1947 - Bahaman b. Shamsudin
1947 - Crats
1948 - J. Jameson
1948 - Aitken
1950 - M.F. Carling
1952 - B.W.B. Chapman
1953 - R.J.C Wait
1954 - C.G. Ferguson
1957 - K.C. Wells
1958 - Othman b. Kasim
1959 - Zainal Abidin b. Osman
1960 - Harun b. Ariffin
1961 - Wan Ahmad b. Wan Omar
1962 - Yang Ambri b. Kamaruddin
1963 - Azizul Rahman b. Abdul Aziz
1964 - Azizul Rahman b. Abdul Aziz
1964 - Mohd Nor b. Alias
1965 - Mohd Nor b. Alias
1966 - Mohd Nor b. Alias
1967 - Abdul Razak b. Hitam
1968 - Abdul Razak b. Hitam
1968 - Ahmad b. Hj. Yeop Abdul Hamid
1969 - Hj. Ahmad Hisham b. Mat Piah AMP.PMP
1971 - Hj.Osman b. Hj. Mohd Baki AMN. PJK
Januari 73 – 16.11.74 - Abdul Razak b. Nordin
16.11.74 – 31.12.76 - Zainal Abidin b. Maamor
1.1.77 – 15.11.78 - Abdul Wahab b. Hj. Zainuddin
15.1.79 – 2.2.83 - Hj. Ismail b. Othman
16.4.83 – 31.12.87 - Hj. Ismail b. Abdul Kadir
15.3.88 – 25.2.1990 - Abdul Manaf b. Abdul Rahim
1.9.1990 – 31.7.1995 - Abdul Rahim b. Saleh
1.8.1995 – 15.11.2002 - Dato' Hj. Ismail b. Dollah Harun
16.11.2002 – 16.12.2002 - Dato' Mahmod b. Morsidi
17.12.2002 - - Dato' Muhammad Fadhil b. Khalid
17.12.2003 - - Dato' Hj. Abdul Karim b. Osman
